


Afterlife

by vosijks



Category: The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types, The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: Alternate Universe - Afterlife, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, TW Vomiting, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-13
Updated: 2018-02-13
Packaged: 2019-03-17 23:57:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13670004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vosijks/pseuds/vosijks
Summary: Newt and Thomas meet in the afterlife and remember everything that happened before the Maze





	Afterlife

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lillith_Kills](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lillith_Kills/gifts).



Newt did not recognise the place he woke up in. He was lying outside a house. The bricks were crumbling and the windows were smashed, leaving shards of glass dangerously discarded on the ground. He didn’t know how long he’d been lying there, but when he shakily stood up onto his feet, his body ached in pain.

He held a hand over his eyes, shielding them from the bright morning rays of sunlight.

The sun.

The sun that scorched the earth and destroyed his world, he thought absent-mindedly; then everything dawned on him. All his memories came crashing in, even the memories he had lost and didn’t want, he realised he didn’t want to remember. The memories WICKED had stolen from him, returning involuntarily.

He had died. At least, he _remembered_ dying.

Thomas had shot him in the head. He begged him to do it. A single bullet to end his life.

_Newt could see how desperately Thomas wanted him to stop, to act normally again. Anger and hatred he didn’t know he had exploded in his body. How dare he? He wasn’t the one with the Flare, he doesn’t know what it’s like, he’s immune and he’s always been immune and he’s always been guaranteed to be okay. How could he stop this, he needed to die, he was going to hurt someone, and oh god, he was going to hurt Tommy._

The memory brought a wave of nausea tumbling over his body. He stumbled, thinking Tommy, Tommy, i’m so sorry. Why wasn’t he dead? Had he failed again? Why could he not just die, his soul lost into oblivion? He wanted to forget.

_Newt felt more angry. Doesn’t he understand? The flicker of sanity that had kept him anchored was drifting away, harder to grasp, the insane, sickening thoughts taking over his conscience. If Tommy wasn’t going to kill him, he knew he was going to kill Tommy-_

No, he told himself. Tommy had killed him and Tommy was safe, he had to be. Maybe Newt was still dying, maybe this was just him remembering his horrible life. Maybe, hopefully, he’d be gone soon.

He remembered the house he’d been taken from. This house, he realised. His home. He was standing right in front of it. A dilapidated building long deserted. Then a name came to mind. _Lizzy_. His sister, he thought. His heart ached. She had been so close to him the whole time but he never knew, he never bloody knew. His little sister, the sister he should’ve been there to protect. It wasn’t fair.

“IT WASN’T BLOODY FAIR,” he screamed. There was no response, just his anger ripping a hole in the empty silence of this empty world.

He recalled before the maze. He had been friends even then with Tommy, with Minho and Alby, with Chuck and Teresa. They had good times, bad times- how could WICKED treat them like they did? They were just kids.

He remembered how betrayed he felt when he realised Tommy wasn’t going into the Maze with him. That maybe they were never really friends, that Thomas was always superior to him. But no, now as he thought about it he realised that was stupid. He knew Thomas, and he knew he must have had no choice.

And suddenly Thomas was there, lying just beside the spot he’d woken up at.

“Tommy?!” He said in disbelief. Panic crawled at him. If he himself had died, and he was dead, in some sort of heaven or afterlife, that meant Thomas had died too. And that couldn’t be possible, Thomas had to be okay. This all had to be some sort of dream, his subconscience imagining things before he was gone for good, before he became nothing for eternity. Thomas couldn’t be dead.

He couldn’t be.

But there he was, eyes shut, just lying there. Newt kneeled over him and shook his shoulders. “Tommy?” He asked.

And Thomas woke with a start, pushing himself up. Like he’d woken up from a normal, deep sleep. Then his eyes adjusted just like Newt’s had and he looked at Newt with an expression of shock. “Newt?”

“Tommy,” Newt said. He didn’t know what else to say. He felt relief; he missed Tommy, and then he felt a rising sense of sadness that overpowered the relief. This couldn’t be real.

“Newt- Newt. What are you-“ Thomas cut off, obviously remembering and panicking, choking on air. “But I killed you,” he gasped, moving away from Newt. “I killed you.”

Newt reached out and grabbed the other boy’s wrist. Thomas’s gaze flickered to their hands for a second before returning to meet Newt’s eyes.

“I don’t know where we are,” Newt started. “I know you killed me, and i know i’m supposed to be dead-” He pauses as tears escape his eyes. “But somehow i’m still bloody here-“

Thomas interrupted him. “I didn’t.. I didn’t make it. We’re both dead,”

Newt stopped. _No, Tommy, please no._ “You can’t be,” he whispered in disbelief.

“I- I went to WICKED. The plan worked, Newt. But we had to rescue the Immunes... there was a FlatTans, to a safe place, a haven for us. But the Right Arm were blowing the entire complex up and... I was one of the ones who didn’t reach it,”

Newt’s heart shattered. He thought Thomas would make it, would find somewhere to live happily and at peace with no lurking threat of madness, or the threat of everything you loved being taken from you. That he would be safe, happy, because Tommy deserved it.

Thomas let tears spill out of his eyes, both boys now crying, emotions overwhelming them. “And I- oh, shuck, I-“ He stopped abruptly. “I remember everything.”

Newt watched as Thomas shut his eyes, putting his head in his hands. Thomas didn’t want to remember, and he was right for thinking that. The memories of what he’d done while working for WICKED invaded his mind, with it came guilt and grief and everything that had been locked away in some part of him to forget. He turned away from Newt and vomited. Newt called his name, asking if he was okay, trying to comfort him; Thomas didn’t hear. The guilt was the worst of all, all those lives, taken unnecessarily- he threw up again until there was nothing in his stomach left and his throat was raw and hurting.

“Tommy?” He finally heard Newt say; this brought him back to reality. If wherever he was right now was reality, which he doubted.

“Newt- i’m sorry.” Thomas mumbled, sounding completely broken. “I’m so sorry,”

“Tommy-“

But Thomas was sobbing, and Newt didn’t know exactly why. He knew Thomas had built the maze, he knew Thomas had done bad things but Thomas knew that too. Newt bent down beside him and pulled him into a hug. “It was the past-“ he began, and Thomas just looked at him, his eyes full of anger.

“No, you don’t understand. I did- I killed people, Newt, I did it and didn’t complain.”

“Help me to understand then,” Newt replied, his words kind, like they were before he was infected. He wasn’t infected anymore, so maybe this _was_ heaven.

But Thomas didn’t say anything. He couldn’t, he couldn’t live with what Newt would think of him. Even though he was dead already. Newt pulled him closer.

“WICKED is bad,” started Newt “and whatever they made you do- it’s on them, not you. I swear.”

“Thanks,” Thomas said, but he didn’t believe it, even if he desperately wanted to. He wanted to believe Newt.

“Listen- I know you don’t believe me, that doesn’t matter. I remember things too, you know, things i’d rather have forgotten. My parents, murdered in front of me. Did you know I had a sister?”

“Newt-“

“They kept us separated, and then made me forget her. That hurts, Tommy.” Newt paused, as if wondering if he should continue. “And you know what else hurt? Watching you fall in love with Teresa and you being bloody heartbroken.”

Thomas didn’t expect that. Newt didn’t wait to see Thomas’s reaction. “I said I’d follow you anywhere, and I bloody meant it. Maybe- maybe that’s why we’re here. Together”

Thomas’s thoughts were a mess, chanting _Newt Newt Newt_ , but as he closed the gap between their bodies while he leaned forward and kissed Newt, things started to make sense.

 

**Author's Note:**

> this sucks, i hope you ignored all the flaws in it. anyway thank u for reading this and giving my writing a chance!!! i would really appreciate any feedback ♡


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